All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

Four are known, and a fifth shall save the earth.

Opening Statement

In 2001, Columbia turned a new corner in the DVD market with the release of a
new type of DVD. The new "Superbit" discs are essentially stripped
down editions of certain films with superior picture and sound quality instead
of commentary tracks or theatrical trailers. Here is Sony's summation of the
discs:

"Superbit DVDs utilize a special high bit rate digital transfer process
that optimizes video quality and offers a choice of both DTS and 5.1 Dolby
audio. Superbit DVDs start with high definition masters and double the bit rate
of the original release."

Facts of the Case

Apparently, every 5000 years or so a malevolent evil "force" comes
into the galaxy to destroy that precious thing we humans like to call life. Only
one thing can stop this evil—the fifth element. Aided by the four other
elements (earth, air, fire and water in the form of magic rocks), these five
elements, when put together, form a huge weapon that can stop the hurtling evil
(in the form of a big red fireball) on its way to seal our doom.

In 1914, a race of aliens called the Modashawan came to earth to collect the
four rocks, stating that they are not safe here on our planet. 300 years later,
the "evil" rears its ugly head, but the stones are nowhere in sight.
Hired by the evil "force," Zorg (Oldman) and a group of really ugly
aliens shoot down a ship they assume is carrying the four stones, yet find the
case inside the ship empty. Government officials piece together cellular
material from the supposed "fifth element" and out pops Leeloo
(Jovovich), a spunky red-haired Supreme Being who escapes from their lab. After
dropping into the cab of Korben Dallas (Willis), Leeloo is taken to Father Vito
Cornelius, a man who has the knowledge about the fifth element and can hopefully
help save the earth and keep mankind alive!

The Evidence

When I first saw The Fifth Element I wasn't very impressed. Maybe it
was the shrieking whine of Chris Tucker's obnoxious voice. Or maybe I just
wasn't in the mood for a science fiction action film with multiple shades of
comedy (and Luke Perry) thrown in for good measure. Either way, I walked away
from The Fifth Element with mild indifference.

After seeing The Fifth Element years later, my impression changed
drastically. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed this film the second time
around. I laughed more, I enjoyed the action more, and overall I ended up
thinking The Fifth Element was a zinger of an action flick. The Fifth
Element seems to incorporate a lot of different ideas into one big ball of a
movie. Borrowing themes from Blade
Runner, Back To The Future Part
II, and maybe even Big Trouble In
Little China, The Fifth Element has a quirky charm that zips along
without slowing down enough to ever bore the audience. This is a film that tries
to be a little bit of everything—there's comedy, there's action, there's a
love story, there's science fiction elements—The Fifth Element is a
cornucopia ingredients that shouldn't' work, but somehow does.

Bruce Willis leads with a role that is tailor made to fit his personality.
Korben Dallas is a mix of every other action hero Willis has ever played; he's
smarmy, smirking, and cocky. Of course, Willis excels at these types of roles,
finding just the right tone to make the character his own. Gary Oldman shows up
as Zorg, an atypical outer space baddie that only wants power and money (what
else do bad guys ever want?). Oldman has been featured as a freak of
nature baddie in movies such as Bram
Stoker's Dracula, Air Force One, and
The Contender, among others. Much like Willis, Oldman could play this
type of character with his hands tied behind his back in his sleep. The
rest of the cast plays this material exactly how it should be played—with
a tongue firmly placed in cheek. Milla Jovovich is animalistic and cute as
Leeloo (the coveted "fifth element"), Ian Holm plays wacky as the
frantic priest Vito Cornelius, and Brion James and Tommy "Tiny"
Lister, Jr. (as the president of the United States!) are very funny in smaller
yet memorable roles.

The Fifth Element is not the best action film ever made (I mean,
let's face it, this is rated PG-13). However, it is unabashedly fun stuff. The
plot comes secondary to the spectacular action and space sequences, and the
characters are given enough funny dialogue and quirks to make up for the lacking
blood and guts we've all come to expect from these types of summer blockbusters.
Put your brain on neutral and just enjoy the ride!

So, these are the new Superbit titles. I'm going to be honest and say that I
don't have ten billion dollars worth of equipment to watch DVDs on. I have a
nice Sony surround sound home theater system (with six speakers), as well as a
32 inch TV set. I don't own the original The Fifth Element disc, but I
hear that the sound and audio on that early release was close to reference
quality. [Editor's Note: You can read our review of the original
release for details on that edition.] Keeping that in mind, I was very
impressed by The Fifth Element's audio and video specs.

The Fifth Element is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. As
far as I can tell this is a perfect transfer. Everything about the image was
excellent, including crystal clear colors and flesh tones. There was no
instances of shimmer, digital artifacting, fading, bleeding, or edge enhancement
present. Black levels were right on the money, and I honestly couldn't ask for a
better looking picture. Detail and resolution did look stronger than most
transfers, and while the difference wasn't that much more striking, it
was still detectable. I am assuming that these titles will look even better when
used on a 16x9 widescreen TV or with HDTV (which I am sure we'll all have
someday in the near future). Overall, the quality of this picture is perfect,
and Columbia gets high raves for paving the way for a new look on DVD.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround as well as DTS 5.1
Surround. Both of these tracks are excellent, and are also perfect in every way
(at least from what my ears could discern). I will say that after listening to
both tracks, I found that the DTS track sounded just slightly better than the
5.1 soundtrack. Both release a veritable mass of sounds and effects that nearly
blows the viewer out of their seats. Falling meteors, gunfire, and explosions
rocket around the viewer as if they are right there next to Bruce firing a
missile at the bad guys! I didn't spot any distortion or hiss during the film,
and all aspects of the music, effects and dialogue were clear. Columbia has done
a nice job on both of these mixes, and it's great to have a choice between 5.1
and a DTS track on the same disc.

As on par with all the Superbit titles, The Fifth Element includes no
extra features. However, that's the whole point of these discs: the tradeoff is
no supplements for mint video and audio components.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

I liked Chris Tucker in Rush Hour.
While he was somewhat grating in Rush Hour
2, I still found that movie to be mildly enjoyable. I wanted to take six
feet of duck tape and wrap it around Tucker's head the minute he showed up in
The Fifth Element. His screeching and whining Ruby Rhod character made me
yearn for the sweet sound of a dentist drill being scraped across a high school
chalkboard. I hear that movie studios are digitally erasing the World Trade
Towers from movies these days. Maybe their next deletion should be Chris
Tucker's performance in The Fifth Element.

Closing Statement

The Fifth Element is a fun flick that should please action aficionados
alike. These new Superbit titles from Columbia are worth the price if you're
only interested in having the best sound and picture quality you can get (so
far) from DVD. If, however, you're interested in the supplements and extra
features then you should stick with the regular releases (though the original
The Fifth Element didn't include any extras to being with). True to its
name, the Superbit title has superior video and audio components that truly are
out of this world!